During our virtual consultation, my client tells me about her dieting history. Multiple fad diets initially worked for her, but the weight comes back…Every. Single. Time. Sometimes she even puts on more weight than she started with! She feels discouraged, and is a little hesitant to try yet another thing – but here she is.

Our daughter was born near the very end of 2020, and we were overjoyed. But soon the warning bells of postpartum depression began gently ringing, and continued throughout most of 2021. It wasn’t until I was eight months postpartum that the dark and detached feelings started to lean on the doorbell—heavily. It was as if they were forcing their way in, saying “WE’RE HERE! It’s already too late!”

Fad diets and weight loss programs make big money every year, especially because weight is one of the top health concerns in almost every age group. Trying to lose weight can feel like an unclimbable mountain; believe me, I know. I’ve been on that goal-setting loop too.

Now, here are the four other pieces that have helped me through the postpartum puzzle:

My third trimester was really tough. My right hip had dislocated, I had two bulging discs, and both wrists had severe carpal tunnel. The hormone produced during pregnancy—relaxin—paired with my unhelpful inflammatory genetics had caused the perfect storm.

New year, same stress? Because we operate from two states of being: stressed (sympathetic) and relaxed (parasympathetic), many of us share a common challenge. Our bodies are designed to live in the relaxed state for 23 hours a day and manage the stressed state for only 1 hour per day.

I needed to understand why food and weight was such a problem for me. In my early 20s, I lost nearly 100 lbs. Then began the struggle to keep it off; I used fad diets, constantly feeling hungry and crashing back into snacking, overeating, and emotional eating.

When I decided regularly practicing yoga would be good for me, I went out and bought yoga pants and a new mat. I was all set...but never went to a single yoga class. Sound familiar? Even if you’re a dedicated yogi, I’m sure you’ve probably had a similar experience with something else.

The fear of an unplanned pregnancy was one of my earliest adult thoughts. I remember feeling grown up for having such a mature concern. Doctors, teachers, and family had been warning me and other girls for years that “it only takes one time to get pregnant!” We were taught that pregnancy was something that must be avoided until you were absolutely sure you were ready for a child. But years later, when I was absolutely sure, I struggled to get pregnant. Then, when I did, I was unable to keep the pregnancy.

Our current landscape is strange, but you’re handling things well, right? Or maybe you thought you were, but you’ve recently hit a wall. Believe me, I get it. When the COVID-19 restrictions started, I was determined to handle the stress of the situation thoughtfully. I told myself that I would not buy into conversations, news, or social media posts that would feed my propensity to feel stressors and emotions intensely. I tried to carefully reserve my cortisol (stress hormone) so I could calmly manage situations as they arose—rather than spiraling or letting the stress catastrophically flood my life.